Stuck in a Mine with You
by Holz9364
Summary: An accident leaves Esposito, Beckett & Castle in danger & stuck in an old mine shaft. To complicate matters Castle has just found out that his new girlfriend has a romantic past with her fellow Detective.


**Stuck in a Mine with You **

Rick Castle was in love with Kate Beckett, very much in love with her, but they were so different that naturally they fought, usually over silly things. Lately things had been good, much better than ever, they'd settled into themselves so much, especially after they'd spent their first Christmas together.

When Castle woke up early on Monday morning in Beckett's apartment he wasn't surprised to see her sitting up in bed, wearing one of his shirts and looking at something on her laptop. He smiled as she caught his eye, 'morning,' Castle said casually as he leaned over and kissed her.

'Morning,' Beckett replied, smiling back. Castle stretched and stood up, he glanced at the time and realised they had 3 hours until work started, Beckett was a much earlier riser than he was, he supposed it was habit.

He searched the bookshelf, it had become a bit of a tradition. Beckett would sit on her laptop and check up on the latest news stories and Castle would gradually make his way through a selection of Beckett's books. Beckett didn't even bother to look up as Castle ran his hand along the shelf, he frowned as he saw a dusty book with no writing on its spine, curious as he was he pulled it out but another thinner book fell out with it, landing lightly on the floor.

Castle picked it up and flopped back onto the bed, Beckett glanced over and her eyes widened, 'Castle-' she said sharply, but it was too late, he had already opened the little book and was staring at it with shocked wide eyes.

'Kate...' he said quietly, as he stared at the first two pictures in what was a small photo album, both pictures featured Beckett and Esposito. In one of the pictures Beckett was kissing the other Detectives cheek, in the other Esposito had his arm wrapped around her. They looked younger, and Castle guessed it was probably when they were at the academy together.

'Rick I can explain it's-'

'It's an important relationship you never thought to tell me about,' Castle said harshly, as he flicked the page, to view the next two photos. One of which featured them kissing, the other which was of the 'couple' lying in bed together, with Beckett trying to hide her face beneath the covers. Castle ignored Beckett's pathetic pleas to stop looking at the pictures; after all there were only 6 in the small album so he flipped to the third and last page. This page had a picture of Beckett and Esposito grinning happily at the camera and the final picture was of Beckett smiling, Esposito had his arm around her and Becketts hand was on Espo's chest, glittering on that hand was an engagement ring.

'You were engaged? Engaged Kate? And you never told me!' Castle jumped up, pulling on his clothes.

'Castle you've been married twice!' Beckett retorted angrily.

'Not to one of your best friends!' Castle bit as he tried to button up his shirt and struggled because his hands were shaking.

Beckett was trying to form an excuse or think of something to say when her cell rang and she picked it up immediately out of habit, 'Beckett,' she said, her voice a little more weak than she'd like it to be.

'We've got a body,' the voice on the other end said, 'you okay Beckett? You don't sound so great.'

Castle scoffed, he could hear what was being said and who was saying it, it was Esposito.

'I'm fine Espo, where's the body?'

Esposito gave Beckett an address and Beckett hung up, she relayed the address to Castle as she dressed at top speed, 'are you coming?' she asked without turning from the doorway to look at him.

'When have I ever not come to a murder? I'm not going to avoid it just because of you and your ex-lover,' Castle said bitterly and Beckett glared at him, 'Fine, but you can walk!'

'The body is 15 blocks away!' Castle exclaimed.

'Take a cab then!' Beckett said shrilly, not quite shouting yet; she pulled on her boots and stormed from her apartment, leaving a pissed off Castle in her wake.

* * *

When Castle arrived at the crime scene 5 minutes after Beckett in a cab, Ryan and Esposito shared concerned glances.

'What we got?' Castle asked in that chirpy voice as he strolled over to them.

'Ask Ryan,' Beckett said, and from the tone the two boys immediately knew something was up.

'Maybe I'll ask Esposito since you and he clearly think so alike,' Castle jibed and Beckett held back a growl, 'Espo, tell Castle about the body,' Beckett ordered, turning her back on Castle.

Esposito didn't flounder like Ryan was next to him, he just shrugged and said, 'Vic is Andrew Thurlow, 48 years old, worked at an old shipyard just outside of Manhattan.'

'How'd he die?' Castle asked, looking at the hole in the middle of the guy's stomach.

'Impaled,' Ryan piped up, pointing to the balcony above which had a sharp railing sticking out, blood was still dripping from it, 'Lanie thinks he was shot, then impaled, and the bruises are from the fall.'

'Brutal,' Castle said, adding, 'a bit like finding out your girlfriend is a liar.'

'Give it up Castle, we're working,' Beckett said with a glare, 'Espo, do you want to come check out Thurlow's workplace?'

Esposito frowned at being asked to accompany Beckett when she usually took Castle, 'Ryan, take Castle somewhere,' she added.

'Hah,' Castle said, following Beckett and Esposito as they walked towards Beckett's car, 'like I'm letting you two be alone together,' he said as Esposito mouthed 'what the hell?' to Beckett who just rolled her eyes and got into the car. Esposito climbed into the passenger seat and Castle stubbornly got into the back of the car. The 10 minute ride to the shipyard on the edge of town was silent and awkward.

When they finally reached the shipyard it was clear they had hit a dead end which caused the already frustrated Beckett to actually growl. The shipyard was completely abandoned, 'an alias,' Esposito said, 'to cover up whatever he really does do.'

Beckett nodded, 'we should canvas the area,' she admitted, 'Castle stay by the car,' she added as she and Esposito made their way across the car park to the old shipyard building which was falling apart. Usually Castle wouldn't have listened but he was too pissed off at the moment, he'd spent the whole car journey stewing so for once he sat tight, and muttered his annoyances as Beckett and her ex lover strutted away together.

* * *

'What the hell is Castle's deal today?' Esposito asked the moment they were out of Castle's earshot.

Beckett rolled her eyes, glancing back to where Castle was pacing by the car, 'he found the photo album this morning.'

'What photo album?' Esposito asked, still clueless for the moment, then Beckett gave him a pointed glare and his eyes widened, 'oh, _the _photo album'.

Beckett nodded, pulling her gun out as they entered the ruined old building. Behind her Esposito did the same and they made their way through the first dusty corridor, 'looks abandoned,' Esposito remarked, 'and that explains the comments earlier,' he added, with regard to Castle, 'I guess he didn't take it well.'

'No, not well at all,' Beckett said, still annoyed with Castle which was clear to Esposito, but maybe it was just because he knew her so well.

'Did he see the ring?' Esposito asked, and Beckett paused at a corner, she turned and nodded before turning the corner and calling back, 'clear, I don't think anyone is around here to be-'

Before Beckett could finish what she was saying tragedy struck, there was an almighty crash and rumble and in a flash the ground beneath both she and Esposito vanished, with a scream and a shout of shock both Detectives fell about 20 feet.

When the dust settled Esposito forgot about anything that had been said before the fall, 'Beckett! Beckett! BECKETT!' he yelled, sighing in relief when he heard coughing from the other side of this pit, or whatever it was, that they had fallen into.

Esposito cried out in pain when he tried to get up and walk over to Beckett, he had tried to push himself up with his wrist which he had now realised was broken and hanging limply, and painfully.

'Espo!' Beckett called and Esposito bit down hard on his lip and using his good arm pushed himself across the floor, from what he could tell in the darkness this looked like an old mine shaft, it was about 3 metres wide so he didn't have to move far, but he couldn't make out Beckett's form through the dust.

When Esposito managed to grasp some part of Beckett he winced because she screamed in pain, 'Espo,' she gasped, as the dust began to settle, 'I think my leg is broken.'

Esposito coughed as the dust settled and strained his eyes to make out Beckett, she didn't look good, her face was pale and from the angle her leg was sitting at, it was definitely broken.

'What the hell happened?' Beckett choked out.

'A small tremor I think, it happens more often on the outskirts of town than in the centre,' Esposito explained, he winced as he touched his head and looked down to find fresh blood covering his hand, 'this looks like an old mine shaft, built on and not filled in properly, you hear about people falling down them in old factories all the time.'

'Do those people die?' Beckett asked quietly and Esposito realised she was used to being in situations like this with Castle, she was used to having the silver lining guy there and while Castle was gone he realised he'd have to be that guy, the one that gave her a silver lining.

'Nah, of course not!' Esposito lied, badly, 'we're going to be fine, Castle is around remember? He'll come and look for us and then he'll get back up, don't worry.'

Beckett laughed, or tried too, she then coughed and grimaced, 'Castle's right, cops are the worst liars.'

Esposito frowned, trying to hide his concern at the small amount of blood that had trickled out of Beckett's mouth when she coughed, 'Kate... I need to examine you, I know emergency first aid and I think you might be in trouble.'

Beckett nodded, 'I think I've broken a rib or two,' she admitted as Esposito gently held her and helped her to lie down on her back, she bit her lip and groaned in agony as he did so but Esposito managed to get her on her back.

He lifted her shirt and Beckett tried to laugh, 'this would really set Castles teeth on edge,' she said, struggling to form her words.

'Don't laugh,' Esposito said gently as he bit his lip, this wasn't good, the bruises on Beckett's chest were bad and after a brief poke he figured she'd broken about 4 ribs, he suspected she had some internal bleeding and he was very worried about the possibility that one of her broken ribs had punctured her lung, coughing up blood was never a good sign.

'You don't look so good Espo,' Beckett said weakly, and for the first time Esposito looked into his own injuries, his wrist was definitely broken and he suspected his ankle might be too, upon taking a deep breath he suspected at least one of his ribs was broken too.

'Don't worry about me, I'm fine,' Esposito lied, actually making it seem convincing this time, either that or Beckett was in so much pain that her senses weren't quite as good as usual.

Esposito looked down at his watch to figure out how much time had passed since they fell but it was smashed, it hadn't survived the fall. Esposito groaned and reached for his cell, it wasn't smashed, but they were so deep underground and so far out from the rest of the city that he didn't even have an emergency signal.

'Kate, where is your cell?' Esposito asked, as Beckett motioned to her back pocket, Esposito chuckled and winced the moment he had done so, 'sorry for feeling you up,' he joked as he reached around and pulled her cell from her pocket, it was still live but like his there wasn't any signal, 'no bars,' he sighed, 'guess we'll just have to wait for Castle to save the day.'

* * *

Richard Castle waited by the car for 10 minutes, then he realised something was wrong, Beckett and Esposito should have been back by now and if something had come up Beckett would have texted. He knew he didn't have any expertise but he grabbed Becketts spare gun and made his way across the car park to the door he'd seen Beckett and Esposito enter through. It briefly crossed his mind that he should call for back up but being Castle he ignored that thought and continued through the building, dust was falling from the crumbling roof as he turned the corner, he heard two shouts of 'CASTLE STOP!' but it was too late, he slipped when his foot was caught on the edge of the pit, he stumbled and grabbed the edge of the pit as he fell, but this only caused him to scrape his hands along the rough surface, when he fell into the pit he landed on his back and groaned in pain when he tried to move.

'Castle!' Beckett moaned, 'Castle, are you okay?'

'Don't move Castle,' Esposito warned as he moved slowly over to the writer, 'you might have a spine injury.'

'I'm fine,' Castle said, pushing himself to sit up, he grimaced as he realised how badly cut his hands were, 'it's just bruised.'

'How did you fall down?' Beckett asked quietly, 'didn't you see the hole?'

'No,' Castle replied, making his way over to Beckett, 'if I had I wouldn't be down here with you would I?'

'Now we're definitely going to die,' Beckett said weakly with a bitter laugh, 'you were our last hope Castle,' she tried to joke about it by making it sound like Star Wars, but he could tell she was in a lot of pain.

'I'm sorry,' Castle said, as he surveyed Beckett's injuries, 'Kate...you don't look good Kate.'

'She's fine, she just needs to get to a hospital,' Esposito said, giving Castle a pointed look, Castle nodded, not believing a word Esposito was saying, he assumed he was only talking to keep Beckett's spirits up.

'We're not going to die Kate,' Castle said, settling down next to where she was lying on the rough, uneven ground, 'Ryan will figure out we're going and he'll come to check it out, we just need to wait it out.'

'Castle, a word,' Esposito hissed and Castle pushed himself to the other side of the small pit to talk with Esposito.

'She doesn't have that long, it will take Kevin about an hour to get here and then to get us out and call an ambulance,' Esposito whispered, 'from what I can tell Kate has a punctured lung which is slowly filling up with blood, if she doesn't get medical help within half an hour she's not going to make it.'

Esposito looked close to tears and Castle could feel himself welling up, the thought of losing Kate so soon after he'd finally found her would break his heart, he didn't know if he'd be able to cope with loss like that.

'Are you sure? That Ryan won't get here sooner?' Castle asked, his voice breaking as he quickly brushed the tears that had fallen from his cheeks.

'I don't know,' Esposito said honestly, leaning against the wall and shutting his eyes, his head was pounding and the blood flow from the wound there still hadn't stopped.

'So you and Kate, you were engaged?' Castle asked, glancing over to where Beckett was breathing shallowly and watching them through heavy lidded eyes.

'Yeah,' Esposito said, his eyes also on the Detective, 'before you ask, we met at police academy and we were together for 3 years.'

'3 years?' Castle asked quietly, his voice fading off. Nothing more was said for a moment and Castle made his way back over to Beckett.

'I'm sorry for the stupid fight earlier,' Castle said as he moved Beckett's hair away from her face and kissed her on the cheek, the blood on her lips was unsettling.

'Me too,' Beckett rasped, her voice getting weaker each time she spoke, 'I should have told you sooner.'

Castle shook his head, 'No, private life is private, you didn't have any need to tell me, I'm just too nosy for my own good. I love you, I love you Kate.'

The words made Beckett flashback to the last time she had been lying on the ground dying, that time she hadn't been ready to hear it, this time she was, 'I'm going to die,' she stated, 'you wouldn't be saying that...or crying...if I was going to be okay.'

'You'll be okay Kate, you just need to hold on,' Castle said weakly, as he took her hand, 'just hold on, please.'

Beckett gave a weak nod; apparently speaking had become too painful. Castle then pulled his fancy top of the range cell phone from his pocket. He was always boasting about how it was better than any of the Detectives cell phones, he cursed, he didn't have a signal, or even an emergency signal.

'We're too far down to get a signal,' Beckett whispered as Castle gripped her hand tighter, 'hey we're going to be okay, Ryan's going to find us, he'll be here soon, you've just got to hold on.'

Beckett's eyes started to flutter, 'Rick...' she said slowly, and quietly, Castle moved forward to hear what she was trying to say, 'I love you Rick,' she murmured as her eyes rolled into the back of her head, 'Kate!' Castle shouted, 'KATE! Esposito, help!'

Esposito shuffled over to them as fast as he could, he pushed Castle out of the way and checked Beckett's pulse and heart, 'she's alive,' Esposito said, 'she's just unconscious.'

'How long does she have?' Castle asked, dreading the answer.

Esposito opened Beckett's mouth, 'as long as she doesn't cough up any more blood, she should make it until Ryan gets here.'

Castle breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall, minutes passed in silence between the two men before Castle finally spoke.

'Why did it end?'

Esposito had expected the question, he didn't know if Beckett would tell Castle the whole truth but he thought that the man had a right to know so he sighed, 'Kate got pregnant so we got engaged, but she lost the baby and we couldn't salvage a relationship after going through that.'

'Oh,' Castle said, not knowing what else to say, this was a huge part of Beckett's life that she'd never told him about.

'I did love her for a long time, but since you came along I've been happy for her, I've never been jealous, you're exactly what she needs,' Esposito admitted and Castle nodded, smiling very slightly, 'Thank you Esposito, that means a lot from you.'

Esposito only nodded and they fell into silence once more.

* * *

'Sir, something's wrong.'

Gates looked up and frowned when she saw a concerned Detective Ryan standing in front of her.

'Beckett, Esposito and Castle all left for an old shipyard an hour ago, they should have been back by now, but the car is abandoned outside and all of their cells are busy,' Ryan said, finding it hard to mask the concern in his voice.

'Maybe they don't have any signal that far out of town?' Gates suggested.

Ryan shook his head, 'I don't think so sir, there was a small tremor about 5 minutes after they arrived and the site is unstable.'

Gates frowned, finally seeing where Ryan was going with this, 'You think they fell into an old disused mine shaft?'

Ryan nodded, waiting for Gates to tell him he was being ridiculous, but instead she nodded, 'Lead a team, make sure the fire service and an ambulance are on standby.'

'Yes sir!' Ryan said, hurrying from the office, he had a gut feeling that something was wrong, he could always tell when something had happened to Esposito; it was a strange partner-in-crime connection that they had always shared.

* * *

Castle and Esposito weren't sure how much time had passed as they sat in semi darkness, they didn't exchange words, not because of anger or spite, but just because they didn't have the energy. Both of them were worrying too much about Beckett.

The first ray of hope was when they heard sirens above, they listened as the sirens got closer and Esposito sighed in relief, 'Ryan's here.'

'How can you tell it's him?' Castle asked curiously and Esposito actually smiled genuinely for the first time since they had ended up trapped down here, 'I can tell, and Ryan can tell when I'm in danger. It's like some weird connection; it's common in cops apparently.'

'Well then I guess we have that sense to thank for being saved,' Castle said as they heard footsteps above approaching the hole they were stuck in.

'DOWN HERE! We're down here! HELP!' Castle and Esposito shouted as the footsteps got closer, then a very familiar face appeared peering through the dim at them from above.

'Javi? You okay?' Ryan called down and Esposito grinned, 'Fine Kevin, Castle is okay too, but Beckett's in trouble!'

'We've got paramedics and the fire department on their way,' Ryan called down, shining a torch down to survey the scene, 'wow, there's a lot of blood down there Javi.'

'Tell me about it,' Castle murmured, his voice carrying up to Ryan who looked anxious and then turned around as more footsteps approached, 'that's the fire service, they're going to hoist you out, I'll see you soon.' He shone the light on Esposito and they made eye contact, the bond they had was similar to the bond between Castle and Beckett, he supposed when you were in dangerous situations every day it was important.

Ryan vanished and was replaced by a fire-fighter who asked who the most hurt was. Castle stayed quiet and let Esposito inform the man that it was Beckett then a spinal board was lowered down. Esposito looked to Castle, 'I know this will be hard but I need your help Castle, I need to do this right or she might never walk again.'

Castle swallowed hard and nodded. Gently he and Esposito got Beckett onto the board and secured her so that her spine and neck wouldn't be damaged anymore as she was lifted out. Esposito couldn't stand up so Castle stood and helped the board up as far as he could, it was pulled the rest of the way and Beckett was rushed away by paramedics.

Next a harness was thrown down and Castle helped Esposito attach it to himself, as he was more injured than Castle he was second out. Once the harness was secure Esposito was pulled from the pit and he too was rushed away by paramedics. Finally a rope was thrown down for Castle who was the least injured; he climbed up the rope, wincing at the pains throughout his body. Once he reached ground level a paramedic helped him to limp out of the building where there were two ambulances. The one containing Beckett was speeding away when they got outside and Castle felt the sense of dread within him increase, he needed to get to the hospital, he needed to know she would be okay.

Instead he ended up spending a 10 minute long journey in an ambulance with Esposito in silence, concerned silence, Beckett was going to be okay, she _had _to be okay.

* * *

By the time Castle had been looked over at the hospital he was even more worried about Beckett, however he'd had to get a few stitches in his hands due to the cuts being so deep. He also had a pretty bad wound on his back that had needed stitches so when he was finally realised he hurried to the desk and asked for Detective Katherine Beckett.

'She's just been released from surgery,' the woman at the desk said, she was miserable as most people who worked in hospitals were, 'you can see her, if you're family.'

'I'm family,' Castle said, 'she's my fiancé,' it was a lie of course but a very quick one and as Castle was a convincing liar the woman nodded, 'She's on the 3rd floor sir, room 25.'

Castle nodded and although every single part of his body was aching he ran as fast as he could up the stairs to the third floor, he stopped to catch his breath and rushed through the corridors until he reached room 25. As he got there a Doctor left the room.

'Is she going to be okay?' Castle asked, gasping to catch his breath.

The Doctor smiled, Castle assumed it was because he thought it was the devoted, worried husband asking after his wife. Truthfully Castle was worried sick, even if Beckett was only his girlfriend at this point in time.

'She's going to be just fine,' the Doctor said in that annoying condescending tone, 'she broke a few ribs, one of which punctured a lung which she needed surgery for. Her leg was also broken but has been put in a cast. She's going to be off her feet for about 2 months, and she'll need a lot of rest.'

Castle nodded throughout the Doctors speech, when the man was done he patted Castle on the shoulder and said, 'I'll let you see her sir, she might not wake up for an hour or so yet.'

Castle nodded once more and hurried into the room where Beckett was lying in a hospital bed, she looked pale, but she was alive and as he sunk into a chair by her bed he knew that was all that mattered. The last time he'd seen her in a hospital bed like this was when she had been shot so this brought back many bad memories for him. He sighed as he took her hand and closed his eyes, he was in agony but he hadn't had time to worry about that, he had been worrying about Beckett too much.

'God Kate, I love you,' Castle whispered, kissing her cheek, 'I love you so much.'

Castle kept his eyes shut and rested his head on Beckett's arm, he felt light-headed from all that running so soon after the pain meds he was given while he was getting stitches.

'I love you too Castle.'

Castle frowned, he opened his eyes and looked at Beckett, she was awake and looking at him through tired eyes, she had a half-smile on her face, she looked exhausted.

'Seriously woman? A moment so important and you call me Castle!' The writer joked and Beckett managed a weak laugh, 'I'm sorry,' she said, smiling that smile that made Castle feel like all was right in the world, 'I love you Rick.'

'That's better,' Castle said, leaning forward and kissing Beckett lightly so as not to hurt her, 'I thought I'd lost you,' he murmured in her ear.

'You'll never lose me, I'll be here, always,' Beckett whispered and Castle smiled, gripping her hand tighter, 'always,' he reiterated as her eyes slid shut and she slipped once more into a peaceful sleep.

Castle smiled as he watched Beckett sleeping, it might have taken an argument and a big secret, but Kate Beckett had just told Richard Castle that she loved him, and for that, it was worth it.

**THE END :D **


End file.
